Which Cables & Wires!

[terrible]

On my first out for a buy of 'high end' audio and somewhere in there HT, I have locked down and paid for Focal Chorus 726V and Cambridge CXR200 AVR. Through this course of a month, I have come across many opinions that helped me tremendously and one that now comes in the picture. Cables and Wires. I have read at various places that these hold great significance.

What would you guys suggest I use for connecting:

1. AVR to Speakers (Around 2.5 metres)

2. Which HDMI and Optical for AVR to TV

3. And considering there are many ways to connect b/w TV, AVR and Bluray Player. What would be a good layout.

I also have a question about BD player. I seem to like what I have read about the Oppo BD 103 (Non Darbee). Now, while I understand that amp and speakers would be a big risk to buy from Amazon US, considering after sales and stuff. Would buying a BD player be risky too. Considering we play mostly the US region for our Blu Rays (I do). And there's very little service required anyway within the warranty time frame. Opinions would be nice to get.

And last, though I live in Mumbai with almost no power cuts and major fluctuations, would it be advisable to install a stabilizer or connect through a surge protector?

Your response will be greatly appreciated.

 

[terrible]

Any suggestions please?

 

[Fantastic]

Since you aren't sure about what you want to buy I suggest you go about it the least expensive way. Later on when you have got used to your system you could (if you want ) experiment with more expensive interconnects.

If you are a DIY guy , you have several decent options.

If you aren't then just go to Amazon.in or Ebay.in and look for the cables you want and pick by what you consider is a decent price. Line interconnects by 'Blue Jeans' ? Belden speaker cables ? There are many other brands and you could look for them as they will pop up during a search like Mogami and many others.

A simpler route is to visit your local electronics market and just buy something that 'looks' decent and use it. Later you can figure out if it isn't as good as you want it to be. Your outlay wouldn't be much so you could afford to replace them with 'better' material. At least you will get your system going and have time to evaluate it and determine how much better it should get !

 

[afj]

for your speakers go for any good quality 14 or 12 gauge copper wire. as long as the copper is virgin and pure it will work well. even electricity wire is good. but from an aesthetic point of view speaker wire will look better.

 

[afj]

also for a stabilizer, the main thing is to get one that gives pure sine wave power. next best option is modified sine wave. you generally get these in ups. APC have some good ones. square wave power which generally is in servo stabilizers should be avoided

 

[raghupb]

Speaker wire 14 AWG preferred (min 16 AWG); Should be copper.
Single strand multi strand does not matter unless you can hear like bats do.
Oxygen Free Copper is just very expensive; cheaper to swap out speaker wires if you notice oxidation. Banana plugs are convenient.

Interconnects must be nominally 75-ohm; not a big deal unless you are running 10s of meters of wire. Just get interconnects that have a snug fit (not too tight not too loose).
At audio frequencies and at lengths less than 3 meters any RCA cable will work as long as they are sturdy yet flexible (for insert/removal)

Toslink/Optical cables are best if less than 3 meters; if more than 3 meters and you have a choice of digital coax, you should use coax.

HDMI version depends on your AVR; if AVR is 1.4 and TV is 1.3 use version 1.4; they are backward compatible. If reversed, use version 1.3

As for options to connect, make a layout drawing and experiment to get shortest path and see/hear what is best in your opinion. See sample pic attached.

For stabilizer/UPS, as in previous FMs post as close to sine wave is good. Surge protector recommended because you want the fuse to blow or trip elsewhere; not in your electronics.

All said, don't worry too much about hifi quality. Set a budget and stay within it. It will usually work out OK.

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[terrible]

Thank you much for the advice. I got these for speakers Buy 50ft 14AWG Enhanced Loud Oxygen-Free Copper Speaker Wire Cable Online at Low Prices in India - Amazon.in

Bought AmazonBasics for high speed HDMI and optical. The distance between all things to the amplifier is not more than 2 metres, so guess I am going as advised.

I have been told by the dealer that I do not need stabilizer in Mumbai. However, my entire house is surge protected. I am am also going to use a surge protector extension. Guess all this should help. Thank you again.